Boy by Sun, Wolf by Moon
by Laidonnerus
Summary: One night, young Remus Lupin was bitten by the infamous werewolf, Fenrir Greyback. Since then, his life was never the same. See how he lives with this frightful secret that changed him forever. Rated T just to be safe.
1. The Beginning

Seven-year old Remus J. Lupin was enjoying himself in the forest located just beyond his house. "There is nothing like the outdoors to release your inner self," his mother, Hope Lupin, had always mentioned to him.

She's right, Remus thought to himself he admired the capturing beauty of a nearby wildflower. He loved nature, just like his mother, and adored all of the animals that lived in unity with it. Nature brought and bound everything together in the world like a complicated puzzle, and Remus was captivated by that; it seemed so simple, but was yet so complicated. And the forest, _his_ forest as he liked to call it, was just that. So many different plants and animals seemed to fit together to create one great big beautiful picture.

Remus jumped onto a pile of large boulders and climbed to the highest one on which he perched himself. He pushed back his shaggy, brown hair from his face that was somewhat like his mother's to reveal curious brown eyes taking in the sights of everything around him. The rock had a flat, smooth top that opened up to the pink and orange sky of the setting sun; one of Remus' favorite places to relax.

He lay on his back and stared through the opening in the trees into the transfixing summer sky. Remus realized that he should've been on his way home quite a long time ago, but the mesmerizing enchantment of the forest begged him not to leave and he couldn't resist the temptation to just gaze at the open sky above him.

When the sky began to turn black, Remus realized head home; he wasn't even supposed to be this deep in the forest.

So he slowly slid off of his sanctuary rock and started for home.

* * *

Fenrir Greyback stared into the clearing in the forest. There lay, so simply on a large boulder, the son of that Jonathan Lupin, whom he despised. But it was too early. He would have to wait until the full moon is visible to attack. 

He licked his lips in excitement. Tonight, he would get his revenge with that horrible man by ruining the lives of him and one of his most prized possessions: his only son.

Greyback was snapped out of his reverie by his prey that suddenly had the whim to leave that vulnerable area.

Brilliant, Fenrir thought sarcastically, if the boy could've just stayed put in that susceptible place for five more minutes that would've made the attack so much simpler!

No matter, he told himself. He should've been used to this type of routine already! I'll just make sure he doesn't leave my eyesight before I transform, that's all, he assured his mind.

And with that, he began to follow the unwary child through the forest.

* * *

Remus knew that he was in for trouble this time. It was way past curfew and in a few minutes (or seconds, really) the moon would have already risen! Remus cursed himself for staying out in the forest to long. Close as she was to nature, his mother would have a fit and a long lecture with him if she knew long he spent out in the forest. Just outside was bad enough, but deep in the forest was, in her words, "absolutely, positively dangerous." He could just hear her voice ringing in his head the afternoon last summer that she asked him to heed what she had to say when he called to her that he was going to make his first venture into the forest alone. Remus could already picture her long, dark brown hair in a low, tight ponytail. She wore a cautioning expression on her normally calm face. 

"Sometimes there are dangerous creatures in there near or after dark," she had warned him. "Not all things in nature are good, especially for a young boy like you."

Remus thought of this and quickened his pace. He didn't have the faintest idea what sort of thing (or things for that matter) could do something that terrible to him to make his mother worry so much and his mum wouldn't tell him. His mother meant well, he knew that, but at times she worried too much. Either way, Remus considered, she had a real knack for scolding those that make inappropriate decisions, even his dad.

The edge of the forest was in view when he heard the crackling and snapping of leaves and twigs behind him. He snapped around in a flash. Remus had been gazing contently at the full moon above and the sudden noise snapped him out of his daydream and made him look around in fear.

A soft growl was heard from behind a tree that gave him the feeling that the owner of it had finally cornered his prey in triumph-and it didn't make Remus feel good at all. He froze with fear as a full grown werewolf with dangerous looking gray fur emerged from behind a large tree trunk. It paused, and then let out a howl that pierced the calm night air. Remus finally picked up the courage to move and decided to run for it.

He sprinted towards his house, knowing that the bloodthirsty chaser was hot on his heels. Remus could hear the energetic panting of the beast and the quick sounds of its soft paws hitting the grass with each great step.

The front door was just a few yards away. He screamed at the top of his lungs with all the strength he could muster:

"MUM! DAD! HELP! HURRY!"

Remus saw his astonished mother and father, as surprised as they were, quickly emerge from the front door with their wands raised high, coming to their son's aide.

Nearly there, Remus thought. Nearly there.

A few meters from the door, he stumbled and fell to the soft, cool ground. All he remembered was a great pain on his side, screaming, a flash of red light, then blackness.

* * *

"Oh my goodness. H-how could I let this happen? How?" 

"Don't blame yourself, dear. None of this is because of you. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. I angered that thing so he wanted revenge. How could I be so…so…?"

"Y-yes, but I should've kept an eye on him and l-looked for him before it got dark! T-that was completely foolish of me! I'm…I…I'm a failure as a mother!"

"Now, now Hope, don't think like that. You're a great mother. We just got unlucky because of something Idid, not you. Besides the Healer said that he'll live…."

"But…b-but…every f-full moon he'll…he'll…Oh Jon! W-what will we do?"

"Don't worry so much, Hope. We'll think of something. And try to keep your voice down- you might wake him."

Remus stirred, but he kept his eyes close. The past events were just a blur and the voices meant nothing to him. All he knew was that he was that he was stiff and slightly aching, but the bed he was in (he's pretty sure it's a bed…) was quite warm and comfortable. The distant voices in the background gradually became clearer and louder and Remus realized that they belonged to his mum and dad. He carefully opened his eyes and took in his surroundings.

He was in a bed that was completely white, plain, and, in his opinion, boring. Remus' eyes moved to the pale blue night stand that held a dull- looking light brown lamp with a white shade, a tall, green glass bottle that looked like it held a type of medicine, and an empty drinking cup right next to it.

He then became aware of the purple curtains surrounding his bed that looked extremely bright against all of the monotonous colors. Gold embroidery was stitched in the center of each of hanging. Remus squinted to read the cursive letters:

Property of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries

So that's where he was. Remus was contemplating on what he should do next when the curtain opened up to his mother and father who were still in deep conversation and did not seem to notice that their son was awake and was looking at them with great interest, searching for more details on what was going on. His mother wore a worried expression on her face while his father plastered a half grim, half exasperated look on his like he was trying to decide which personality to use.

"I'm telling you, Hope, Remus is going to be just-oh," said his father, finally realizing that his son was conscious. "Err…glad your up."

Unless it was just his imagination, his father had suddenly gone timid at the sight of Remus and seemed to be trying to avoid eye contact with him. And his mother looked like she was going to burst out crying at any second.

Remus began to push himself upright when a sharp pain exploded from his right side, sending tingling needles throughout him. He collapsed back onto the bed then looked from his mother's to his father's apprehensive expressions searching for an explanation.

Are you all right?" asked his dad, Jon, startled by the sudden weakness of his son. His hair, which was brown just like Remus', was messy and looked like it hadn't been brushed while his face, which was not like his son's at all, was concerned and tired.

Responding to his father's question, Remus nodded back feebly while his parents sat themselves slowly in two maroon, metal chairs on either side of the bed. Once they were all seated, a long silence echoed between them. It was finally broken by Mr. Lupin.

"So, Remus…" started Jon uncertainly, trying to find a place to start. "Do you remember what happened the other night?"

"Well, sort of…" Remus replied, trying to remember the past events as well as he could. "I was coming back home from the forest because it had gotten dark. Then I remember a wolf chasing me and then I tripped after called you and mum out…But, I mean, it's probably not his fault!" he added, seeing the look on his father's face that showed that he wanted to make a bad comment about the animal. "He probably was chasing me on accident and had no control over it!"

He saw that his father was planning to try an prove Remus wrong, but his mother looked at her husband and muttered, for the first since she saw Remus awake, "Not right now."

Jon looked like he was going to argue, but Hope gave him a piercing stern look so he decided to drop the subject.

"Well Remus, you do know what happened after you fell, don't you?" Mr. Lupin continued looking quite angered about not being able to say what he wanted.

"I think the wolf bit me, but I'm not exactly sure…" Remus answered, racking his brains for any recollection of the incident.

"You're absolutely correct about bitten by that…thing…" Remus' father confirmed. "But do you know about the…how should I put this…aftereffects?"

Remus shook his head slowly, wondering what was going on.

"No?" his father said, clearly wishing that his son had already known them or perhaps read at least a little about it in one of those fat books that he usually buries himself in when he wasn't outdoors. "Well, since you were bitten by…an animal like that, you will get some…err…wolfish characteristics from now on…"

Remus cocked his head to the side, thinking what on earth was his father talking about?

"Which means," Jon went on seeing his son's confused look and not wanting to say more. "That every full moon you will transform into…a werewolf," ending quite silently, but abruptly and quickly.

Remus stared at him for a few seconds, not believing his ears.

"A what?" he exclaimed in horror.

"A werewolf," his father repeated, even smaller than the first time as though he was trying to reduce the problem of their dilemma.

Remus Lupin lay in his bed, completely devastated, and stared at the plain, white ceiling, depressed by the news. A werewolf….He would never be able to be a normal boy again.

In his grief, he didn't notice his mother finally letting her tears go and weeping or his father looking at Remus, wishing that there was something that he could do to help his only son.


	2. The Chance of a Lifetime

_Five Years Later _

The cool summer breeze gracefully flew past Remus as he lay on the cold grass. Thought he was only eleven, light specks of hair already dotted the mass of brown on his head. He looked tired and had multiple scratches and bruises, but was otherwise quite happy. Remus had finally finished his past year in a Muggle school with decent grades and could now spend his free summer holiday relaxing at home.

He loved summer because of all the nature and peacefulness, but he longed to have someone to share it with. All of his Muggle friends from school were either too far away to visit or was on vacation in some foreign country while all of his wizard companions- well, they had abandoned him about five years ago ever since they're parents found out what their child's friend turned into every full moon. All Remus was left with was with his mum and dad, but even then, they weren't much fun at all.

His father was either at work for the Ministry of Magic in the Magical Creatures department or hidden away in his office behind old, dusty books. And his mother was always doing something or nothing, but always worried and sometimes acted as though he was avoiding Remus.

Even though he didn't really enjoy this lack of attention on his part, Remus knew that his parents had always had a lot to worry about over the past few years. Remus, money, Remus, food, Remus, supplies, Remus, shelter, and Remus were just a few of their abundant amount of concerns.

Remus sighed heavily and got up. He brushed of his ripped, tattered clothes and headed for the small cottage. As he stood in front of the back door into the house, he heard the voices of his parents in a loud discussion. He paused from pushing the door open then pressed his ear against to hear well.

"Now Jon, I love our son as much as you do, but this is a bit much! Really, what is Dumbledore thinking? Does he even know what our son is?'

"Yes, he does. And I think Dumbledore knows exactly what he's doing. Besides, don't you want your son to have a good education?"

"Of course! But what if he attacks someone? Do you really want that on you and your son's conscience for the rest of your lives? And to make another family go through the same situation as us just because of our mistake? I couldn't bear the thought of such a horror."

"I'm sure Dumbledore would have thought about that before he sent us this. And don't you want your son to have friends? No, not Muggle friends, Hope. I mean wizard friends who know him at least a little bit better. That would be one less secret to attempt to hide for him."

Before his mother could retort, Remus pushed open the heavy, brown door.

The conversation ceased at once. Both adults turned towards the doorway to see who the new arrival was. At the sight of him, his mother dropped her gaze from him and looked at her feet, nervously. But his father spoke to him.

"Oh, it's you Remus," Jon said. "Come and sit down."

His dad motioned towards one of the dark, wooden chairs placed around a matching table. Remus sat down and glanced at both of his parents tensely, waiting to be addressed.

"Now, your mother a rather…err…heated discussion," began his father, who usually did the majority of the talking in front of Remus for the past few years. "And it's all due to this. Read it."

Jon handed his son a yellowish envelope that was already torn from the red wax seal on the back. On the front in green writing boldly stated his name and address.

Remus glanced at the upper right corner. There was no stamp so it must have been sent via owl post, but from whom?

They weren't in contact with anyone in the wizarding world after all of their friends found out what Remus was.

With slightly trembling hands and an encouraging nod from his father, Remus took out a letter and read the first line out loud.

"Dear Mr. Lupin, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School…!"

Remus looked at the letter in complete shock. Then he looked at his parents in excitement. His dad gave him a huge grin while his mom looked at the ground, looking oblivious to the whole thing. Remus read the rest of the letter to himself.

When he finished, he couldn't believe it. He never thought he would be able to get into a wizarding school with his condition. But then he began to realize why his mother sounded so worried while he was eavesdropping.

What if he did hurt someone else? How would he be able to forgive himself? He had once killed a fox when he had transformed about four years ago and could never truly tell himself it wasn't his fault. So if he attacked a fellow human- well he couldn't even think about it.

His father, realizing that his son had began to take his mother's side, patted Remus' shoulder and said, "You're not going to hurt anyone."

"How?" said a loud voice from the other side of the room. Remus and his dad jumped. It had been a long time since Hope had spoken and they both forgot she was there. "How can you be so sure that he doesn't have the chance to attack anyone?"

Before anyone could reply, a large brown owl flew in like it was just on cue, dropped a note on the scrubbed table, and then soared back out the open window. As Jon reached for the envelope, Remus noticed that it had the same green writing and yellowish parchment. His dad ripped it open and scanned the contents inside. A satisfied look was on his face when he emerged from behind it.

"What? What is it?" Remus and his mother questioned in unison.

"It's from Dumbledore himself," stated Mr. Lupin, still quite happy. "He is well aware of the consequences of Remus attending Hogwarts and has a plan that will ensure everyone's safety, which he will explain to him on the first day of term."

Remus and Hope sighed in relief. Dumbledore had a plan to terminate their greatest fears, and usually his plans were successful, being the great wizard that he is. They all agreed that Remus could go and sent an owl back soon afterwards.

All through this time, Remus couldn't believe his luck. He was actually going to a magical learning school and meet wizarding friends! Remus could finally feel like a normal boy again…after all these years….


	3. The Start of a Friendship

A scarlet train towered high above Remus as steam blew out from it and drifted freely away. His jaw hung open as he stared at it with amazement. He couldn't believe it; he was actually going to Hogwarts aboard the Hogwarts Express. Then there his father, pushing his trolley proudly and his mother gripping his shoulder tightly, steering him through the crowd nervously. His dad stopped at one of the doors and heaved his things onto the train while his mother spoke scared, but strongly to him.

"Now, you be careful, Remus. Write to us right away if there are any problems and we'll come here straight away."

He nodded tiredly. It was a full moon a few days ago and Remus wasn't really functioning at his very best.

Don't you worry, Remus," said his dad. "You're going to enjoy it. Now hurry, the train's about to leave."

And so it was. An extraordinary amount of steam blew from it and the whistle sounded loudly. Quickly, he gave his parents a hug and a farewell each, stepped onto the train, and waved to them until they were out of sight.

Remus grabbed his luggage that his dad brought in for him and lugged it past all of the full compartments, searching for an empty one. But it was no use. They were all filled with older students doing their own things with their friends; it made Remus feel more alone then ever.

As he was searching, he bumped into a short boy with straw colored hair heading the opposite way, looking out of place. He seemed rather large and positively nervous by even being there. Remus began to fell happy that there was someone that was more edgy than he was.

"Oh, excuse me," Remus said kindly, "Is this your first year too?"

The boy nodded slowly.

"Well, you can come with me. We can find a compartment together."

So the Remus and the boy went to search for an empty space. In the end, they were only left with one that was occupied by two boys who looked to be around their age, but gave him the fell that they were troublemakers. Remus gathered up his courage and slid the door open.

"Hello," he started shyly. "Do you mind if we join you?"

They looked at each other, then at them and shook their heads. Remus gratefully stepped inside and lifted his bags onto the racks and helping the uneasy boy do the same.

As he sat onto an empty seat, the other two boys were in the process of stuffing colorful objects into their pockets to be polite to their new arrivals. Apparently, they were trading Chocolate Frog cards that they had been collecting over the years.

"I'm Sirius Black," introduced one of the boys once they finished. He had jet black hair that was slightly long and shaggy and seemed proud and confident, something Remus was definitely not.

"And I'm James Potter," said the other. He was tall and thin with messy black hair that was shorter than his friends, but equally black, and he wore round, dark-rimmed glasses. They looked so similar that Remus would've mistaken them for brothers if they didn't have different surnames.

"Hi, I'm Remus Lupin," Remus replied.

They all stared at the blond boy who hadn't spoken at all.

"P-Peter P-Pettigrew," he muttered softly, as though saying his own name scared him out of his wits.

They all nodded in hello. To break the ice, they started asking each other random questions. James was asked what was his favorite brand of socks and he replied, "What socks?" as a joke. Remus had guessed that James and Sirius had just met on the train because they didn't seem to know much about each other (whenever they asked simple questions that is). It got so easy that even timid Peter joined in after a while. By the time it was an hour into the ride, all four of them were laughing like old friends.

When the food trolley rolled by, they all bought an assortment of goodies: Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Licorice Wands, Pumpkin Pasties, and a bunch of other sweets. Once they had eaten most of their candy, the sky had turned a bright magenta mixed with a bit of orange to resemble the sunset.

Having enough to eat, the four of them sat back and said what they wanted to do once they got to school.

"We've already planned that we're going to leave a big mark in Hogwarts' History," said James confidently with Sirius nodding in agreement.

As the train drew nearer towards the school, they agreed that they should change out of their muggle clothes. Remus pulled a long, black robe over his head, not feeling the least bit tired like he was earlier in the day. This surprised him because usually by now he would be exhausted.

The Hogwarts Express slowed down to a stop at the station. The new friends left their things in their compartment and joined the mass of students exiting the train. One they boarded off, a low, booming voice was heard calling over the heads of hundreds of students.

"Firs' years! Firs' years!"

A large man, who must've been twice as large as an ordinary one, towered over all the heads and called out for the first years.

"W-who's t-that?" stuttered Peter bleakly, sounding the same way that Remus felt.

"That's Hagrid," answered James.

"I've heard about him. He's the gamekeeper, right?" replied Remus, remembering one of his dad's nostalgic moments of his Hogwarts days.

"Yup," chimed in Sirius.

Once all of the first years joined them, they followed Hagrid to a huge lake that had a number of small boats on the shore. Beyond the water sat a grand, vast castle that made Remus stare at it in awe.

"No more than four to a boat!" bellowed Hagrid.

"Make sure you don't fall in or else the giant squid will…well, it's best if you didn't know the details," James told them carelessly, though to Peter in particular. Even in the faint moonlight, Remus could see his nervous friend turn white and stiffen.

The four of them boarded one of the tiny boats and waited for their fellow first years to get seated. Once everybody was ready, they stared at Hagrid, who had a boat all to himself, for further directions.

"All set?" he asked them. "Alrigh'- FORWARD!"

All of a sudden, the giant's boat glided forward and led all of the other's towards Hogwarts Castle.


	4. Feasts and Plans

After they sailed into a dark, damp tunnel beneath the castle, they hiked up a road until they were outdoors in the cool night air. They followed Hagrid up a bunch of stone steps leading to a gigantic wooden door on which, he knocked.

The doors opened to reveal a tall, stern- looking woman in green robes. Her black hair was pulled back tightly into a bun and made Remus feel a bit more scared.

"They're all here, Professor," Hagrid told the witch. "And there weren't any accidents this time."

"Well thank goodness for that," she replied. "Another giant squid incident like last year would've been a disaster! Anyways, I've got it covered from here, Hagrid. Thank you."

They followed her into a vast entrance hall with that lit all the way up to the high ceiling and a grand staircase that welcomed them. Remus turned to James and Sirius and saw that they were as awed as he was while poor Peter seemed to cower under it with fear.

The professor directed them past another set of large doors (though not as big as the main entrance one) and through a small door that led into a tiny, dimly lit room where they all shuffled in anxiously.

The teacher introduced herself as Professor McGonagall. She welcomed them then began to tell the different houses they were to be soon sorted into and the importance of them. Then she directed them to wait quietly as she exited the room.

Nervous conversations broke out at once between the students. Remus looked at James and Sirius to see what they were doing. James was staring at a group of girls with an odd spark in his eyes. He raised his hand to his head and ruffled up his already messy hair while Sirius, like Remus, was watching the scene from the sidelines with a look of interest. The cluster of girls elbowed each other and pointed at James, then began to giggle madly as he gave them a wide grin. All except for one of the girls, that seemed to think that James was being immature. She had dark red hair and bright green eyes who, ironically, James seemed interested in the most. Remus then looked at Peter who was still staring at the door that Professor McGonagall had left through and looking like he was about to faint.

Professor McGonagall soon returned and said, "Now, I want everybody to form one line and follow me."

They exited the, then turned into the large doors they had past earlier and walked into the room behind it.

The Great Hall is unbelievable, was Remus' first thought. The other students were seated at four different tables while the staff table was placed facing all of the students. Above was the night sky outside as a ceiling and contained thousands of candles that floated and made the entire hall shine like it was made of gold. Remus, who was trying to keep Peter from stepping on the back of his shoes, saw what seemed to be ghosts lingering among the students.

When all of the first years had gathered by the front of the hall, Professor McGonagall placed a stool in front of them and placed an extremely old looking hat on top of it.

Everyone in the Great Hall was staring at it in a loud silence. Remus was starting to think that it might've been a kind of joke when the hat had created a type of mouth and started to sing:

"Before this castle in which we stand

Stood even high and tall,

Four good wizards of the world,

Were the greatest of them all.

Courageous Gryffindor, that led them all,

Witty Ravenclaw, wise and clever,

Dear Hufflepuff was kind to all,

Sharp Slytherin, cunning as ever.

They wished to teach all of those

The ways of magic that lay ahead,

To prepare them for the future

And not be powerless instead.

So each of them, with their special skills

Created a perfect strategy.

They founded Hogwarts School that day

And made me a sorting key!

Gryffindor taught those with daring,

Ravenclaw's were always smart,

Loyal ones belonged with Hufflepuff,

Slytherin's folk were powerful from the start.

So try me on! Don't be shy!

Put me on nice and tight.

I will look to where you belong,

And make my choice for you good and right."

Everyone clapped hard in ovation at the Sorting Hat's song. Remus thought about it while he applauded with everybody else. He knew that his dad was in Gryffindor and his mom was placed in Ravenclaw, so where would he be? Gryfinclaw? Or neither? He knew he would hate to be in Slytherin, but Hufflepuff didn't seem too bad.

Remus snapped out of his deep thought when he saw Professor McGonagall stepped in front of all of the students and addressed the first years.

"Once I call your name, you will come forward and put on the hat to be sorted. Bane, Tanya!" A small, brown haired girl with short hair stumbled up to the stool, sat down, and put the hat on. She waited for a few seconds while there was complete silence, then-

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat yelled.

The table on the far right cheered loudly as Tanya hurried towards her table.

"Barnes, Nicole!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The other Ravenclaws clapped loudly from their table as Nicole went to join them. Then, seeming to know it was coming for him, Professor McGonagall shouted:

"Black, Sirius!"

Sirius walked up to the Sorting Hat with a solemn face. The hat took about two minutes with him until it finally broke the silence-

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Sirius took off the hat and walked towards the applauds from the Gryffindor table, seeming determined not to look towards the right. Remus gave his friend thumbs up, but it was ignored. Stunned, he turned back to the front where "Brown, Paul" was being sorted into Hufflepuff.

After a while, Professor McGonagall called out, "Evans, Lily!" The red-headed girl that earlier looked as if she thought James was being immature walked up to the stool and waited to be sorted. Remus saw James mouth her name as if he were trying to remember it. A few seconds later, the hat called out, "GRYFFINDOR!" James was grinning widely as Lily ran by to join the other Gryffindors.

Remus started to get nervous once they had hit the H's. He watched "Jones, Dana" with apprehension, knowing that his turn would come soon….

"Lupin, Remus!"

James gave him a little shove from the back once his name was called. Remus staggered up to the stool, looking at the teachers on the way. Who he expected was Professor Dumbledore gave him an encouraging nod and a small smile. Feeling slightly better, Remus sat on the stool and placed the Sorting Hat onto his head.

"Now, what do we have here?" a small voice said to him. "A werewolf, is that so? Well, I suppose there's a first for everything. You seem very brave, but also indulge in books….You seem very considerate and thoughtful as well….Hmm…where to put you, where to put you…."

The hat sat silent on his head for a few seconds, muttering to itself incomprehensibly. Finally, it shouted out for the entire room to here.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Remus nervously took the hat off and laid it on the stool for "Miller, Benjamin." He sat in the open spot next to Sirius who gave him a very small smile then changed back to sullenness as Benjamin's cousin, "Miller, Cari" began to be sorted.

"Pattingson, Kelsey" became a Gryffindor and sat herself next to "Hill, Megan" and began to giggle to each other.

After that, went "Peterson, Rose" then-

"Pettigrew, Peter!"

Peter shuffled up to the stool practically petrified and sat on the stool for a long while until the hat bellowed "GRYFFINDOR!"

"I don't know who that hat thinks it's kidding," muttered Sirius as Peter nearly fell as he scurried towards Remus and him.

Right after Peter went "Pool, Gregory" then "Potter, James"

James nearly strutted towards the Sorting Hat with complete confidence. It was just touching his head when it shouted out "GRYFFINDOR!"

He placed the hat onto the stool and happily walked towards his three friends, winking at the Gryffindor girls as he passed.

The sorting finally ended when "Yee, Jade" was placed into Hufflepuff." Professor McGonagall rolled up the parchment and marched away with the stool and Sorting Hat. Dumbledore then gave a short speech then all of the golden plates in front of them filled suddenly with mountains of food. Remus had never seen so much food in his life. Next to him, Sirius grabbed two chicken legs and was alternating between them and sips of pumpkin juice while James challenged Peter on who could stuff the most fries into their mouth at once. Remus laughed silently to himself then began to serve himself to some sausages.

After the feast, Dumbledore made more announcements then sent the students up to their beds. Remus got up to follow the prefects to Gryffindor Common Room, but he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around. Professor McGonagall stood next to him and said, "Professor Dumbledore wanted to see you."

Remus was confused for a moment then remembered Dumbledore's plan for him. He had practically forgotten about it! Turning to his waiting friends, he said, "I'll meet you there." They gave him a quizzical look, then shrugged and began to follow the Gryffindor prefect.

Remus followed Professor McGonagall to the staff table where they met Professor Dumbledore.

"Ah, Mr. Lupin, am I right? Come and follow me."

Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Remus walked through a small door at the front of the Great Hall and walked down a long corridor. They passed by so many other passages, Remus thought that they were going to get lost. They apparently didn't because after a while of walking Professor Dumbledore led them to a statue of a gargoyle. Professor Dumbledore said, "Pepper Imps" and the gargoyle instantly turned to life and sprang aside, leaving a flight of moving stairs behind it. The three of them stepped onto them and was carried to a large wooden door which Dumbledore opened and led them through.

The headmaster's office was big. It had all different kinds of funny types of instruments on the tables, whirring and spinning. There were shelves of books and a line of portraits that held snoring witches and wizards. Remus followed Dumbledore to a desk with a bunch of papers, quills, ink, and books. Dumbledore motioned for Remus to sit in the chair across from the one he was in behind the desk. Professor McGonagall sat on the side of Remus.

"Well," Professor Dumbledore started. "I am sure that you are tired by now so I will try and make this quick. You saw the letter that I sent right after you received your acceptance letter, am I right? I do have a plan that will ensure yours and others safety every full moon.

"We have obtained a rare type of tree and planted on school grounds. It is very dangerous because it's always thrashing about so no one will try to look around there. An hour before the full moon, you are to see Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, and she will take you down to the tree. All you have to do is press a knot on the tree that will freeze its braches then climb into the passage below the trunk and it will lead you to a house. This house is located in Hogsmeade and is called the Shrieking Shack. So if the nearby residents happen to here you howling in the middle of the night, I am sure they'll think it to be haunted.

"So that's that. Any questions?"

Remus shook his head slowly. How Dumbledore was able to come up with that ingenious idea was beyond him.

"Good then. Minerva, would you mind showing him to the Gryffindor Common Room?"

"Not at all," she replied. "Come along."

Dumbledore nodded farewell as the two left his office.

Professor McGonagall took Remus to a picture of a large lady in a frilly pink dress.

"Pixie Dust," the professor told the portrait. The lady nodded and her frame swung open to a large room. Remus bade Professor McGonagall good night and clambered through the hole. The room was mostly red and gold with two different flights of steps leading up. A group of girls were chatting away to each other on one of them while a boy was heading up the other one, so Remus chose the latter. He walked up the steps and saw a door labeled 'First Years' and pushed it open.

Inside, he saw James, Sirius, and Peter waiting for him while their fellow Gryffindor, Matthew Wood, was fast asleep.

"A few hours into school and you're in trouble already?" Sirius joked. "James, looks like we've got ourselves competition."

"Ha ha," Remus muttered as he went to his four poster bed between James and Matthew and unpacked some of his things.

"What did they really want to talk to you about anyway, Remus?" James asked curiously.

"It was er…nothing. Just…I'm really tired. I'm just going to go to sleep if that's all right," Remus stated nervously. He quickly jumped into bed and pulled his hangings around him. Remus sighed. That was a close call, he thought. But just about how many of those will I have to get out of later?

He pushed the thought away; he'll think of something. He went to sleep, happier than he had felt in a long time.


	5. Good Times

"Wake up, sleepyhead! It's time for breakfast!"

Remus didn't want to get up. The bed he was in was so soft and comfortable that he didn't want to leave. But the pillow that was repeatedly hitting him hard was extremely persistent, so he gave in. He pushed himself up and stretched and yawned loudly.

"It's about time, Sleeping Beauty!" James shouted, dropping the pillow he had in his hand.

"Hurry up, we have to go to the G-great Hall for b-breakfast," said Sirius with a huge yawn.

Remus changed into his school robes quickly then followed his friends down for breakfast. He didn't know how James and Sirius knew the way so well. Of course, he didn't go to the Gryffindor Common Room with the same way they used, but he was still surprised that they remembered the way.

The got seats at the table and began to dig in to some eggs, bacon, toast, and other amazing foods. Professor McGonagall walked among the students handing out their schedules. When she came to the four boys, she handed them each a piece of paper then set off for the group of sixth year students sitting near them to consult with them about their schedules.

"We have Transfiguration with McGonagall and the Ravenclaws first," Remus told the others as he studied his schedule. "Reckon we should start heading over there now? We don't know how long it's going to take us to find the right classroom." They all nodded in agreement.

They exited the Great Hall they looked around them; which way was her room? The four of them went in all different directions before they realized that Professor McGonagall had been in the Great Hall passing out schedules and they should've just waited then follow her to her classroom. Remus sighed heavily. Now what were they going to do?

They wandered around the corridors a bit until the came upon the Gryffindor ghost, Nearly Headless Nick.

"Oh, have you lost your way?" he asked kindly. They all nodded. "Where are you headed?"

"Transfiguration," stated James quickly. "And we only have," he checked his watch." Seven minutes left!"

"No problem," Nick replied. Then he gave them directions. "Best go around instead of straight through though. Peeves got his hands on a couple buckets of paint and plans to- well, I just wouldn't go that way."

The four of them thanked Nick and hurried to follow the directions he had given them. They made it to class just in time, but all of their classmates were still outside.

"Where's McGonagall?" Sirius asked one of the Ravenclaw girls who Remus thought was Kara Ryans.

"I dunno," she replied and turned back to her twin sister, Laura, and her friends. Sirius smiled at them and three of them giggled while the sisters rolled there eyes.

Professor McGonagall trudged down the corridor about five minutes later covered with colorful paint that she was attempting to siphon off of her with her wand. She muttered angrily words that sounded like "Peeves" and "where did he get paint" under her breath. She saw the first years waiting outside and tried to make herself a little happier when she opened the door and forced a sweet "Come in" out of her.

All of them rushed inside, silently fighting over seats in the very back; they had all heard from older students that the Transfiguration teacher could get quite livid and sometimes quite scary.

When the four friends had finally seated themselves in the third row from the back, they waited for the rest of their class to get seated. Those that had the misfortune to sit in the front looked liked their first class at Hogwarts weren't going how they had planned at all.

Professor McGonagall, now free of paint, began to strictly and crossly talk to the class about the art of Transfiguration. She then demonstrated with a few of the objects in the room by turning them into animals which they all applauded to in awe. The professor then set them to note taking then the task of changing a match into a needle. Lily Evans had done the best in the class; her match had become exactly like a needle. Professor McGonagall looked at Remus brown, but pointy, needle and said, "Not bad, Mr. Lupin," then moved on to examine his friends matches that hadn't made any changes at all.

"'Not bad, Mr. Lupin!'" imitated James when they left the classroom. "You're to smart for us, Remus. You make us look bad"

"Yeah, if we hang around you, it will smudge our reputations as troublemakers," Sirius joked. "We can't have that!"

"Oh, quit it," Remus muttered, smiling.

"I thought that was really amazing how your match was so much like a needle," Peter told Remus, completely oblivious to the fact that his other two friends were just teasing.

The first week went by with a blur with all of the exciting classes. In Charms, the tiny Professor Flitwick briefed them about the charms that they would be learning. Slughorn, who taught Potions, told them the interesting potions that they would brew while attending Hogwarts. Professor Sprout taught Herbology and showed them all of the dangerous and useful plants that they would work with. And every Wednesday night they would go to the Astronomy tower to study the bright stars and planets through telescopes. History of Magic was the most boring of all and was taught by Professor Binns who was, if it was possible, even more boring than the subject itself. But the subject the four of them looked forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts and was taught by Professor Riley. In their first class, the friends got a seat in the second row because James had heard rumors about their teacher spitting when he got over enthusiastic.

Right when the bell rang, Professor Riley entered the room briskly and walked quickly up to the front. The teacher was tall and thin with dark brown hair that he brushed out of his face as he marched to face his class. He then, like all of their teachers, introduced them to his subject which, he said like all of the other teachers had told them, was the most important in the magical world. They then copied down some somewhat boring notes until the bell rang.

"Now, I know today was a dull lesson, but I promise that the next one will be more exciting!" he called to his students that were starting to depart who were all looking slightly crestfallen that that's all they got to accomplish that day.

"Define exciting," Sirius muttered, annoyed.

The rest of the week went by the same way with the same lessons, but got more stimulating as they progressed into that certain field. After all of their classes each day, they headed to the Great Hall for dinner which wasn't quite as magnificent as the opening term one, but was delectable all the same.

By Friday, Remus was happy for the weekend. Though he loved this new school and all of the intriguing classes, he was tired from all of the work and exhilaration. In their second Defense Against the Dark Arts class, they got to practice Disarming Charms; not that they really got anywhere, but it was fun nevertheless.

After Friday night's dinner, he fell onto his bed contently. This was the greatest time that he had in years since he was bitten and he was enjoying every minute of it. He smiled to himself thinking of the fun he would have over the weekend without any classes and three amazing friends and he went to sleep.


	6. Plotting and Persuading

After the weekend, the next few weeks passed by quickly. Remus couldn't believe how busy he was with all of his homework and his new task of keeping his three friends out of trouble. Whether it was raiding the kitchens or sneaking out with James' magnificent Invisibility Cloak that he had gotten from his father Remus always refused to go and told them to do the same. Remus was proud of his chance to go to an actual wizarding school and didn't want to get expelled in his first year.

His friends thought differently, though. They were always dumbfounded on why he wanted to stay inside of the common room to do homework. James and Sirius even feigned crying and began weeping about why Remus would chose homework over something more productive like annoying the teachers and prefects while they were patrolling the corridors.

On an early Saturday night, Remus was sitting by the common room fire with Peter helping his poor friend accomplish the Levitating Charm when James and Sirius came bursting through the common room door and raced up the stairs to the boy's dormitories. Remus ignored them. He knew what was going to happen next. They were going to come back down with the Invisibility Cloak and beg them to go on another adventure with them. Remus sighed and begun to correct Peter's wand motion when, sure enough, James and Sirius bounded back down with James carrying a silky looking cloth over his right arm and a wide grin on his face. They went over to Remus and Peter and checked to make that their fellow Gryffindors wouldn't be able to hear them before Sirius started talking.

"We caught dear Snivellus in the library, reading," he whispered with excitement. "Now's our chance to get revenge from when he knocked my cauldron over during Potions and got me a zero and large feet that day."

"For one thing, you had said the wrong spell when you tried to make a fire below your cauldron which made it fall over," stated Remus with a sigh. "And Snape was in the hospital wing during that fiasco because you made his nose vanish during lunch."

"He could've cursed my cauldron before that," retorted Sirius. "And he should've been grateful for that. He looks better without that abnormally large nose of his. I should've gotten a better reward than detention and five points off from Gryffindor."

Remus shrugged and went back to his work. Though Severus Snape, otherwise known as Snivellus, wasn't the kindest and happiest boy on earth he didn't know why James and Sirius kept picking on them. His two friends saw Remus' reluctance to join them and tried to think of a way to persuade him.

"Oh! Can I come? Please?" piped up Peter.

"Of course you can come. As long as you don't knock over another suit of armor this time," replied James unenthusiastically. "Are you in Remus?"

"I'd rather not," answered Remus.

"Oh come on!" pleaded Sirius.

"No," Remus responded flatly.

"Please?"

"Not a chance."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to go."

"We won't get in trouble!"

"I highly doubt that."

"Fine! We won't hurt him this time!"

"That's a surprise."

"Please?"

"I said no."

"For us?"

"Then I'm more reluctant to go."

James thought for a moment, and then said, "You know he hates you, right?"

"Of course," Remus replied. "That's probably because I'm friends with his two greatest enemies."

"No," Sirius said, knowing what James was thinking. "It's because you're challenging him at the one thing he's good at."

"Or thinks he's good at, for that matter," added James.

"Oh, really?" Remus said, rolling his eyes. "And what would that be?"

"All of the professor like you better than him!" exclaimed Sirius.

"How would you know he hates me for that?"

"Well, he always gives you a dirty look whenever a teacher gives you complements and completely ignores him." James said.

"Yes, he tends to do that," Peter said, trying to fit into the conversation.

"Of course he does that. It's like a tradition," Remus replied sarcastically. He signed. Remus actually did care that Snape hated him so much. He didn't want to be such an enemy to people. It reminded him of when all of his old friends were forbidden to play with him when Remus' secret was let out. It also angered him about the fact that someone like Snape could be so rude towards him. And his friends did not seem like they were going to let Remus out of this one.

Replying to his friends pleasing faces, Remus sighed and reluctantly agreed to go with them.

"That's the spirit!" exclaimed Sirius, slapping him encouragingly on the back.

"Let's hurry," James said. "Before dear Snivellus escapes."


	7. The Marauder's Wrath

The four of them walked out of the portrait hole quietly. Quickly, James flung the cloak around the four of them and they carefully descended towards to library. At the entrance, they saw their target walking out of the library, his long nose hidden behind the book he was reading. Sirius grinned, and motioned them to follow him. He went right next to Snape, went right next to his ear, and made a quiet evil laugh.

Severus dropped his book in horror. James quickly reached out from the Invisibility Cloak and seized it, hiding it with them. Snape then began to run away from whatever was stalking him when Sirius jabbed his foot out. Snape fell to the hard stone floor with a crash. He hurriedly sat back up, whipping around in every direction looking for the predator with his wand held up for defense. James handed the book to the frightened Peter who looked at it as if it was about to explode and shoved it to Remus, who rolled his eyes as he took it. James aimed his wand at the nervous Snivellus and muttered a spell that Remus had noticed him practicing earlier in the Great Hall or the common room on random people. Snape suddenly froze up and fell to the ground once more, just like all of the other victims of James' mischief.

Sirius and James smiled with an evil grin on their faces. Sirius raised his wand upwards and muttered a few words. Remus looked up to the direction his friend's wand was pointed at and saw a bucket come into view as it began to tilt over the side of the ledge it was sitting on. Then, a rushing stream of ice cold water flowed down from it and fell on the frozen Slytherin as he lay helplessly on the ground. Sirus and james grinned at each other then moved the four of them closer to their victim. Snape's eyes widened in terror as some invisible creature began to drag him into a storage closet. After a bit of more mischief, the four friends then took the cloak off of them and roughly slammed the door behind them and locked their victim in complete darkness, not caring if they knocked his head into a wall or crushed his frozen fingers. Then all four of them quickly ran back up to their common room preparing to act innocent if Professor McGonagall were to run up there demanding an explanation of Snape being locked in a closet with a dirty bucket on his head, drawings all over his face, and rude notes written all over his book.

They entered the common room and sat on the chairs in front of the fire. Remus threw the book onto the table and fell into one of the chairs next to his friends. They sat there happily reminisced the past events when they heard someone entering through the portrait hole, sounding extremely angry. James bolted upright and immediately stuffed his Invisibility Cloak under his cloak. Then the four of them began laughing and talking like nothing had happened.

Professor McGonagall marched in angrily, drawing the rest of the Gryffindors to look at her warily, hoping that they weren't the ones who were in trouble. Looking towards the fire, she spotted the four boys, who, everyone knew by now, were a hurricane of utter destruction. She fumed and stomped madly over to them.

"Hi, Professor," James said innocently. "How are you?"

Professor McGonagall looked at them with rage which answered his question fully.

"Well, that's good!" he exclaimed. "Now, what did you want?"

"What…did…you…do…?" she said, attempting to restrain herself from attacking the four first years.

"Um…" Sirius thought. "Sit here and be darling little angels?"

Everyone one around them snickered, knowing they were they complete opposite of angels.

"Outside," she fumed. "Now."

"Absolutely," Sirius smiled as he and James stood up proudly and began marching behind McGonagall. Remus and Peter looked at each other, worried. Remus sighed, and grabbed Peter's arm to force him outside as he followed his two friends.

Once outside, Professor McGonagall calmed herself down a little and began to talk sternly to them.

"Now, I know you know what you did was wrong, and that I have no hope in keeping you from doing anything like that again," she lectured. "And I also won't waste my breath giving you a speech on behavior because I know you won't listen. But I still have to give you punishment which will be detention on…the Saturday after the next."

The first two parts of her talk were normal for James and Sirius, but at the last part, they looked up curiously.

"Why can't it be next Saturday instead of the one after that?" James asked with Sirius wondering the same thing at his side.

Remus knew why she didn't put it on next Saturday. It would be the full moon at that time and he wouldn't be able to do the detention which would cause more suspicion with his friends. Hoping she would think of a good excuse he looked up at her who, coincidently, was staring back.

"Because…I'm busy then," she lied to the three boys. "Now, good night."

Professor McGonagall turned swiftly away and walked towards her office in a hurry.

They looked at where she was standing earlier with a dumbfounded look on their faces with only Remus looked at them, hoping that his friends wouldn't suspect anything. They probably didn't because they then turned to the portrait and waited for the Gryffindor's praises and applauses once they entered the room.


	8. Friends and Secrets

The next five days went by slowly. The classes began to lose their special flair and started to get harder and harder for the first years. Remus didn't have an extremely hard time keeping up with the work, but he noticed his friends did.

On Saturday, they were sitting by the common room fire working on their transfiguration essay for homework. Remus crouched over his essay while adding the finishing touches to it while the other three did various other things.

Sirius lounged on the floor, twirling his wand between his fingers. Peter sat next to Remus, and repeatedly did the same thing so that it came annoying: he tapped the tip of his quill to his blank parchment nervously, stabbing a hole into it, hurriedly attempting to fix it with his wand, instead burning it into flames, flinging it into the fire, then grab a new piece to start the cycle again. James was staring at a group of three first years who were huddled in a group nearby. Two of them with their backs faced to him, looked around just as James' had jumped to his hair. They both giggled as he grinned widely while the red head, which had been facing him the entire time, rolled her eyes and muttered what looked like the word "arrogant." The other two ignored their friend and began to shift their chairs so that they faced James.

As James continually flirted with them, Sirius sat upright on the rug and stared out the window with a longing look in his eyes.

"I don't see why we can't go outside," he said loudly, aiming his speech particularly at Remus.

"Well, sweet little Remus forced us to stay in here and do our homework so that's what we're doing," replied James, turning away from the girls for a few seconds.

"I don't see why I bothered though," Remus muttered, rubbing his eyes. He was extremely tired now that the full moon was that evening. "It's not like you two are making much progress."

"Exactly," responded Sirius quickly. "So I declare that James and I go outside with some ink and find Snivellus."

Remus sighed, and continued his work. Knowing that their friend wasn't in much of a debating mood, Sirius turned away from the setting sun outside and attempted to do his work while James looked at Remus with a confused expression on his face.

"What's wrong, Remus?" he asked.

"Huh?" Remus' head snapped up. "Oh… um… nothing… nothing's wrong…."

James looked with a slight bit of concern on his face for a few seconds then shrugged it off. Peter, who was too devoted in pleasing Remus by showing that he could pay attention to his work, proudly leaped up with his finished essay and showed it to Remus.

"Did you spell your name right?" Remus asked, not looking up from his work.

"Well, of course I did," Peter started. "Why wouldn't…."

Peter stared at his paper for a few seconds then quickly grabbed his quill and wrote his name properly on the parchment.

"So, James and I were thinking-" Sirius started.

"Oh no," Remus sighed.

"We were thinking," Sirius began again, ignoring Remus' comment. "That that tree outside could use a little… how should I put it… decorating for the holidays."

Remus looked up at them, worried. He knew his friends were slightly crazy, but this was just being insane.

"No, you can't!" he started, receiving questionable stares from them. "I mean… isn't it too dangerous? You could get really hurt."

Sirius looked as if Remus was the losing his mind, but James actually looked as if he was considering his friend's sudden comment.

"You know, he's right Sirius," he said as Remus sighed with relief. "We can save that idea for a future time."

Knowing that he had to accept that his friends were going to keep their word on saving the idea for later, Remus sighed and finished editing the last bit of his essay.

"Oh good, you're done!" Sirius exclaimed, sitting up straight. "Now you can finish mine!"

Sirius looked around for his parchment, realized that he was sitting on it, and held the crumpled piece of paper in Remus' face.

"I don't think so," Remus said, stretching his arms up and standing up with his supplies in his hand. "You can do it yourself. I'm going to bed."

"You're going to bed?" James said with surprise. "We just had dinner about half an hour ago! You can't possibly be tired now!"  
"Well, apparently I am. Good night," Remus replied, heading up to their dorms.

"You mean 'Good Afternoon,'" Sirius joked.

Remus just smiled and headed upstairs. For a few minutes, he rested in his bed, completely exhausted. He didn't know how he was going to escape his friends this time. In September, he said that his mother was a bit sick and he had to go home. Last month, he claimed that he wasn't feeling well. If he repeated any of them his friends would notice it and get suspicious. He always wondered how they were so smart when it concerned the subject of breaking the rules or their good friends, but not when it came to academics. Remus looked out the window. The sun had nearly set, and he had to go to Madam Pomfrey now.

Assuring himself that he would think of something, he headed down the steps into the common room. His three friends were still sitting by the fire and were still doing nothing. They noticed Remus as soon as he stepped into their view.

"Where are you headed off to?" Sirius asked. "Do you have a hot date?"

"Very funny," Remus said, rolling his eyes and trying to get out of there as fast as he could. "Actually, I… uh… have to use the bathroom. Don't wait up for me."

"Does she have a friend?" Sirius continued to joke as Remus shook his head.

"You have to go to the bathroom?" James asked, surprised. "What did you eat?"

"Um… I… don't know…" Remus responded lamely. "And unless you want to evacuate this room or have the fire explode from… repulsive odors, I suggest that I better leave."

"Be my guess," Sirius said quickly.

"Don't let me keep you," James added.

"What?" Peter asked.

Remus sighed and headed to the door while he let James and Sirius handle the situation.

A few minutes later, he arrived at the Hospital Wing. In the back, he saw a dark shadow lying in one of the beds. Deciding that that figure probably wouldn't like it if he went towards them, he instantly remembered about James and Sirius slyly setting a prank on one of the Slytherins because "he had provoked us." They didn't go to the specifics of how he had agitated them so. Smiling, he turned to the side door and found Madam Pomfrey was busy in her office.

"Ah! Good! You're here!" she quickly exclaimed. "If you could just wait one minute, I have to handle some nasty curse on a Slytherin back there. He's in a horrific state with those… never mind."

She quickly walked out of the room to treat James' and Sirius' victim. In about two minutes, she quickly returned and beckoned him out of her office as she seized a lamp from the disorganized shelf.

"Come on now, quickly," she said in a rush as they walked hurriedly to the Whomping Willow. "We haven't got much time now. What kind of people would curse someone in a way like that…."

Remus managed to conceal his grin a small bit, knowing that she too was recalling the wounded Slytherin.

Once they close the wild tree, they were practically moving at a run. Carefully, they slowed down so that they were out of the reach of the thrashing branches. Madam Pomfrey withdrew her wand and shot a line of blue towards the bottom of the tree trunk. Instantly, the whipping branches froze as the spell hit a little knot on the tree. The two went swiftly down a small opening next to the miniscule knot and then arrived at the beginning of a tunnel which they hastily followed.

At the end of the passage, they encountered an old looking door. Remus clambered through it first and was soon followed by the nurse. They found themselves in the middle of a dark, dingy house. The walls and furniture had scratches all over them. They windows creaked and moaned while all off the other doors except for the sturdy one leaning to the tunnel was hanging off their hinges and swaying off of them precariously. Remus noticed Madam Pomfrey's worried look as she looked around the Shrieking Shack.

"What's the matter?" Remus asked.

"What?" she replied, snapping out of her reverie. "Oh, it's… it's nothing. I… this place still gives me a fright. So, are you going to be alright?"

Remus stared at her disbelieve. "Am I ever alright?"

The school nurse laughed slightly. "Well, I suppose not. I guess I'll be leaving now. I'll be back at sunrise, alright?"

Remus nodded with thanks and watched as Madam Pomfrey left him all alone in the Shrieking Shack, wishing that he could leave with her too.


	9. Painful Times

Remus sighed as he faced the door, quickly sliding off his robes and neatly laying it next to the door. He looked around, slightly shivering in only is shirt and jeans, and waited for what felt like hours. Even though he had already been here quite a few times, he was still a bit frightened of the scene. Through the grimy windows, he began to view a full moon as the light cascaded across the floor to greet him while he started to tremble with fear.

Suddenly, Remus detected a loud, hard thumping vibrating from his chest. It grew louder and louder and harder and harder as it started coursing through his veins. Remus began to stagger as if an immense amount of weight had just been thrust upon him.

Clumsily, he grabbed onto the armrest of a nearby chair like he had done on the other full moons before. He went rigid as a wave of pain swept around inside of him. Remus closed his eyes as the unbearable pain began to overpower him.

His nails dug into the wood of the chair. Immediately, sharp, feral claws replaced them and grey, matted fur began to run up his arm. Remus flinched as every change occurred. He became hunched, and felt his shirt begin to rip into shreds at his spine. His feet grew deathly claws while his legs became wild as they demolished his jeans into helpless pieces of denim.

Remus' eyes filled with tears as he felt the unwanted wolfish features take over. The agony of it all made him want to scream in pain, but he didn't want to give up and let this horrid creature take over his mind… his body… his life. Not again.

Sharp needles felt like they were piercing him everywhere. He didn't even know if his was still standing or not. Closing his eyes tight, Remus then felt an immense pain hit him in the exact same spot where the werewolf had bitten him so many years before, not knowing that he would be changing some little child's life forever… or did he?

Remus thought of this strange new thought for a spilt second. He wasn't going to let it get the best of him time. Not tonight. He was going try the impossible feat of stopping it. He wasn't going to let it control him. Courageously, he opened his eyes.

Bright, unnatural light began to blind him. This wasn't right. He was losing; losing to the thing he hated the most. He couldn't stand the pain of defeat; it wasn't possible to overcome this feral beast inside of him. It would be there forever, slowly taking his life away from him. Unable to stand it, he finally let out an unwilling scream. The last thing he heard was the triumphant howl of a wolf.


End file.
